4:12 o’clock! One of the longest films in history is coming to theaters and it will blow your mind

It was L’Amour fou for François Truffaut “One of the most beautiful works of the new wave.” Directed by Jacques Rivette in 1967, the feature film will hit theaters on September 13 in a restored 4K version thanks to distributor Les Films du Losange.

The plot introduces us to Claire and Sebastien, played by Boule Auger and Jean-Pierre Calphon. Sebastian is a theater director and Claire is an actress. She is preparing for the role of Hermione in a production of Racine’s Andromache, which Sébastien and his troupe are rehearsing in front of a television director who is filming their work.

During a rehearsal where he tries to say his lines, he suddenly leaves the theater. Sebastien replaces him, in a short time, with Martha, his ex-wife. While rehearsals are underway at the theater, Claire, alone in her apartment, gradually loses control.

A true cinematic emo, L’Amour fou went almost unnoticed for many years. The film, which was released on January 15, 1969 in France, was not a huge success, attracting only 91,000 viewers. Running for 4 hours and 12 minutes, this drama of feverish intensity is a captivating journey into the heart of a couple in crisis.

To play Claire and Sébastien, Jacques Rivette always had Bulle Ogier and Jean-Pierre Kalfon in mind. “I started working on the script with them from the beginning. If they didn’t agree on the principle of the film, I don’t think I will do it with other people”Refers to the film director in the columns of the positivity in April 1969.

“These are actors who have much more physical play than most. They have nothing in common with the usual actors of French cinema, who are distorted by a certain tradition, conservatism and rational analysis of characters.”The director explains.

Improv again

Many scenes in L’Amour fou were improvised by the main actors, Bulle Ogier and Jean-Pierre Kalfon. “We improvised everywhere, but it was never the same type of improvisation. Everything depended on the moment, the scene. There are moments that are pure and simple reporting.”Entrusts to Jacques Rivette.

Other times, the filmmaker needed more specific things to follow, such as a movement that one of the actors had to make. The director kept only a small part of the film, especially the “reportage”.

“When I was shooting, I obviously didn’t know what I would keep in the editing, we were going fishing, instead, the scenes in the apartment are thought out in advance, but there were no general rules, it just depended on that. What Boullie and Jean-Pierre were thinking before each scene.”Jacques Rivette clarifies.

According to the director, there were certain scenes in which the actors did not want to jump at the same time. There was another sequence where, on the contrary, they preferred to try full improvisation, with only a small base, a few points of reference.

“When improvisation did not bring satisfactory results, or he repeated the scene by bringing it into focus, in more detail. There were even one or two that I wrote to the end on the set and we aimed for the exact intonation, expressed a certain number. takes“, emphasizes the film director.

The duration of the river

As a result of filming, where unbridled improvisation reigns, the duration of the film: 4 hours and 12 minutes! L’Amour fou team shot for 5 weeks. “If we had one more week, we would shoot the next week, there was no shortage of material”Jacques Rivette explains.

When the director started editing, he had no idea how long the film would be. As they worked, Rivet and his team never asked themselves what they were going to keep.

“After four months of editing, when it was starting to take shape, we showed the film to Truffaut. Even if Francois had told him he was bored, I would have cut it, tried to shorten it.”, admits the director. Also, the director of Last Metro was very fond of L’Amour fou. “In my opinion – and I believe it will be for many – one of the five or six most beautiful works of the New Wave.”he argued at the time.

An inspiring film

Jacques Rivette’s feature film not only inspired Truffaut, but also strongly influenced the legendary Bernardo Bertolucci, author of The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris and Novecento. “A filmmaker puts the camera down and looks at the actors first, without any respect for the character or the previous script. I want to be inspired by that. I want to capture the personality of my actors, create cinema. Really”– said the Italian director.

As for the director, screenwriter and film critic Andre S. Labart, he was full of praise for Rivette’s work. “L’Amour fou is a cinema with almost no formal predecessors. As with all great films, we have the impression of the birth of cinema, of seeing the first film and also of the last”she said.

L’Amour fou hits theaters on September 13.